In plain words
So he went on removing all the sorrows in the world. The Veda has been declaring:
Having gained which, a man becomes one who delights at will, becomes content, becomes intoxicated, becomes one who delights in the Ātma.
In this way Nārada taught that Ātmārāma is God Himself. The one who made him intoxicated is Nārāyaṇa Himself. Everything is in that sweet Prema. If you keep a little Prema in you and think, ‘My Prema is great; I have loved,’ that is not Prema at all. Selfishness, selfishness. Prema never diminishes at any moment. However many you love, it only grows. With such ever-growing Prema in us, why should we suffer so much? Why should we suffer so much unrest? Why go through so many hardships? There are no hardships for us at all, there are no sorrows for us at all; for us there is Ānanda, only Ānanda.
Ānanda Comes Only When You Follow
When will this Ānanda come to us? By following what does Ānanda come? I give you a dish of food. Only when you take that food and eat it is your hunger satisfied. I gave you the dishes, saying, ‘My dear, eat and satisfy your hunger.’ But what are you doing today? You are reciting the names of the dishes on the plate. You say with your mouth, ‘Chapāti.’ Even if you say the name of chapāti a hundred times with this mouth, your stomach will not be filled. But if the food on the plate is to reach the stomach, you must put the mouth and the hand to work. You must take it with the hand. You must eat with the mouth. With the hand you must do good work. With the mouth you must speak good words. Only through these two does sweetness come. Hunger is satisfied. It gives Ānanda. It brings you into amṛta. You are all none other than embodiments of amṛta. You are all none other than embodiments of Ānanda. That is precisely why the Upaniṣads said that man thirsts for Ānanda. What is the reason? Whatever work he does, he says, ‘I want still more Ānanda.’ However much Ānanda he experiences, he is not satisfied. Whatever work I do, I want Ānanda.